MyLifeYoga

John and Thomas Steinbeck

John Steinbeck the renowned author of The Grapes Of Wrath, received a letter from his eldest teenage son Thomas. This was November of 1958 and Thomas was attending boarding school. In his letter Thomas spoke about Susan, a young girl with whom he believed he had fallen in love.

Steinbeck replied immediately. His wonderful letter holds timeless wisdom that we can use even today. The letter is reproduced below:

New York
November 10, 1958

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply—of course it isn’t puppy love.
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“In the cathedral of the wild, we get to see the best parts of ourselves reflected back to us.” Says Boyd Varty in this wonderful TED talk where he shares stories of wild life, interrelatedness, and Nelson Mandela. A not to be missed talk that will have you wanting to run to a national park to be with wild life.

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Nelson Mandela

1. Forgiveness

After spending more than 27 years in jail, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison for the last time at the age of 72. By all accounts he should have been angry and bitter. Even before his 27 years in prison he had spent many years in and out of jail and on the run. The authorities had used all possible means to break his spirit including not allowing him to attend his son’s and mom’s funeral. For 27 years he was increasingly isolated from his countrymen with no access to even a newspaper. The cell where he spent most of his 27 years was so small that it was barely big enough to hold this big man.

The South African regime ruled by brutally terrorizing the majority population. It was easy for the majority blacks to hate the regime. Indeed when he began negotiating with the regime after his release and talking about the idea of reconciliation there was tremendous opposition within the ANC. The rivalries and power struggle within the ANC were intense and at times it seemed that the perception that he had “sold out” was so dominant that he thought he would lose leadership of the ANC. But Nelson Mandela never wavered. He held fast as he knew that anger and bitterness would destroy the country.

Forgiveness is never easy. We can always find reasons why we are justified in not forgiving. But just as was the case for South Africa, where lack of forgiveness would have destroyed the country, forgiveness is rarely a choice. It is the bitter pill that we must swallow to not be consumed by anger and hatred. But just like Nelson Mandela emerged stronger with forgiveness, so can we.
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